The 10 Most STRESSFUL Moments in Fighting Games

The 10 Most Stressful Moments in Fighting Games

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today, we’re taking a look at the 10 most incredibly stressful moments we’ve ever experienced in fighting games.

Free-Fall Kombat

“Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe” (2008)

MKvDC is by no means a good fighting game. It’s decent in some areas, but every step forward leads to two steps back in its design. Although, we’d be lying if we said we didn’t have fun with the Free-Fall Kombat mechanic. These were tense moments where one player would be pressing buttons to deal additional damage while the victim had to press the same button as their rival in order to switch positions. The whole sequence would turn into a frantic moment of button-mashing for us until someone finally took the damage or unleashed their Super Move. Unfortunately, this cool idea has not been revisited in any of the “Mortal Kombat” or “Injustice” games that came after.

Surviving a Powered-Up Opponent

“Power Stone” series (1999-2000)

Speaking of powered-up moves, the “Power Stone” games can be just as strenuous despite their more party-centric approach to fighting games. See, in these games, players had to acquire all three stones in order to transform into a more powerful version of their character. What made this frightening is that much of the roster could take out their enemies with a single use, thus ending the round. Your only means of defense is by picking up weapons or making use of stage hazards like turrets. Even then, you kind of have to let the transformation run its course in order to survive.

The Great Maze

“Super Smash Bros. Brawl” (2008)

Obviously, this whole fiasco is super easy when you have a guide telling you which doors lead to where. But for those of us who wanted to figure it out ourselves (as most game developers want you to do), it was a harrowing feat. The Great Maze basically takes a chunk of each region in Subspace Emissary and creates a hodge-podge labyrinth that’s sure to cause confusion. Some of us became so impatient that we did end up using a guide for the final stretch.

Slo-Mo Moments

“Tekken 7” (2015)

“Tekken 7” introduced a lot of neat mechanics and touches that helped evolve the series beyond just being THE 3D fighting game. One aspect of the game that made fights even more thrilling was the slow-motion effect. This occurs when two players attack at roughly the same time while one of them is about to be KO’d. For some, this was a cool feature that helped show how some characters have a frame advantage when using certain moves. For others, this was just an exciting way to keep “Tekken” fun to watch, and it has helped make several EVO moments stand out over the years. The feature became so popular that it was carried over into “Tekken 8”.

Test Your Might

“Mortal Kombat” series (1992-)

We gotta give “Mortal Kombat” another spotlight because the Test Your Might minigames can get incredibly stressful. To beat the minigame, you have to button mash until your meter reaches the required level. Strike when it's too low or too high, and you fail the minigame. Trust us, this minigame can wind up becoming a lot harder than it sounds, especially if you’re playing MK9’s iteration of Test Your Might. Needless to say, this is one part of “Mortal Kombat” where you are really just going to have to try, try, try, and try again.

Final Filia

“Skullgirls” (2012)

This can be one of the most grueling fights of your “Skullgirls” career, more so than attempting to beat Marie 300%. The thing is that Marie 300 is designed to be incredibly difficult. The final challenge in Fukua’s campaign, however, is way more defensive and aggressive. Regardless of the difficulty you’ve chosen, Filia is always set to Nightmare difficulty and cannot be timed out. You have to beat her legitimately! There is a way to cheese her with Fukua’s overhead and projectile, but even then, Filia will catch on and start trying to counter and close the distance. This whole fight had our blood pressure rising.

Bonus Stage

“Street Fighter II: The World Warrior” (1991)

Though an iconic moment in “Street Fighter” history, most people don’t really talk about how tough the Bonus Round can be. Admittedly, the oil drums are the easiest of the three Bonus Stages. The car and the barrels, on the other hand, require precision and accuracy, which is easier said than done. And with every passing second, some of us wind up in that loop of immense pressure and we start getting in our own head. Sure enough, you’re likely to mess up one attack or two. But once you beat them in the final few seconds, you suddenly feel unstoppable. Until you get to Bison, that is.

Activating Super Special

“Samurai Shodown” (2019)

The Super Special mechanic is absolutely one of the most stress-inducing mechanics SNK has put in any of their games. Once this meter has been filled up, the player can activate it and cause the background to change. While they can still attack normally, they now have the chance to pull off a dash attack that can inflict a ton of damage, possibly ending the round. Caveat emptor because this game-ending dash attack can still be blocked. So, both players are on their toes for the entire time that this Super Special is active. And if you whiff and run out of the meter, you cannot use it again. You have to make this shot count!

Event #51: The Showdown

“Super Smash Bros. Melee” (2001)

“Super Smash Bros. Melee” can already be a super stressful game on account of its high game speed. It requires you to have faster reaction times than the other games in the series. But of all the different fights in the game, Event 51 has caused many to sweat by the millions of gallons. This event forces you to fight Mewtwo, Ganondorf, and Giga Bowser in a three-on-one fight with only three lives. Even worse, the fight takes place on Final Destination, which is infamously known for being just a single platform. You have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. The only way odds are slightly in your favor is because all three opponents are a tad weaker than when you fight them one-on-one under normal circumstances. And even then, Event 51 doesn’t come close to the most stressful moment that haunts fighters to this day…

Finishing Them!!

“Mortal Kombat” series (1992-)

We have all been down this road: you get through an intense match and somehow manage to come out on top. Time for the coup de grace, your moment in the spotlight to finish off your opponent in the most gruesome way imaginable! Just one problem - you forgot the inputs. You could have sworn it was this one until you realize you switched the directional inputs in the wrong order or you pressed the wrong attack button. Either way, it sucks when you think you’ve got the finishing move down pat only to end up putting out a dinky sweep kick or neutral punch. Sure, we can still pause and check the move list, but by the time you resume, you’ll have almost no time for a second attempt. Womp, womp!

What’s the most stressful moment you’ve experienced in a fighting game? Personally, fighting Azazel was downright torture for me. Took me thirty minutes to beat that stupid dragon by TIME OUT! But tell us your story down in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to MojoPlays for more great videos every day!